Former Gov. McGreevey speaks at hearing on halfway houses

By JOHN REITMEYER

STATE HOUSE BUREAU |

The Record

In passionate, firsthand testimony about his work with offenders, former Gov. Jim McGreevey urged lawmakers not to make halfway houses more like prisons, speaking at a hearing whose witnesses included the sister of a Garfield murder victim whose death raised questions about the privately run facilities.

Monday’s hearing — which at times was heated and emotional — was held almost a month after a series of stories in The New York Times detailed examples of violence, drug use and sexual assault inside some of the facilities, as well as escapes.

Governor Christie called for stepped up inspections following that report. The Democratic-controlled Legislature sought quarterly inspections of the facilities, writing that into the budget passed last month; Christie, a Republican, vetoed their effort, saying there sufficient state monitoring under his administration.

Last week, a Senate committee during a nearly four-hour meeting methodically looked at ways to improve the network of halfway houses, which make up a roughly $65 million portion of the state Department of Corrections budget.

But Monday’s hearing before the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee began with a decidedly more emotional tone with testimony from Stella Tulli, whose sister, Viviana, was killed in August 2010, allegedly by a parolee who escaped from a hospital after being taken there from a halfway house.

And the Assembly hearing lasted nearly twice as long as the Senate version, getting deeper into several issues, including the financial relationship between a non-profit entity and a for-profit company with an executive who has close ties to Christie.

Some of the most passionate testimony Monday came from McGreevey, who left office in 2004 amid scandal and now works with recovering addicts at a facility in Hudson County.

He urged lawmakers to prevent efforts to make the halfway houses become more like prisons. Some of the privatized facilities in New Jersey already hold hundreds of offenders and can resemble jails from the outside.

“At some point if we want people to reclaim their humanity, we have to treat them like human beings,” the former governor said.

McGreevey’s visit to the State House came after he attended the State of the State address in January and loudly applauded when Christie called for mandatory treatment for non-violent drug offenders. Last week, Christie signed into law a bill that will expand the state’s drug court program, a move with a similar goal as the halfway house program — to save taxpayer dollars and improve outcomes for offenders.

Tulli, during her testimony, said she’s sought answers from government on how the system failed her sister, but has yet to get any. She attended one of Christie’s town-hall-style meetings last month, but the governor did not call on her.

“I just hope there’s some action that can be taken and the system can be reviewed to make sure this never happens again,” she said, at times fighting back tears. “Why was a violent offender sent to a halfway house?”

The hearing became more heated later, after Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, D-Union, grew frustrated with answers from an executive from Community Education Centers, one of the primary operators of the halfway houses in New Jersey, and the employer of one of Christie’s closest political advisers, William Palatucci.

The company’s chief executive officer, John Clancy, attended the Senate meeting last week and was invited to the Assembly hearing, but was in Colorado on Monday attending a conference.

“I find it offensive that we couldn’t even get the guy here,” said Cryan, citing the public dollars paid each year to Clancy’s company. “It’s absolutely a disgrace that he’s not here.”

Cryan also pressed Mackey on the financial relationship between his company and a sister non-profit entity that technically holds the contract with the state because New Jersey law bans a for-profit company from directly operating halfway houses.

“There is absolutely a financial firewall,” Mackey told Cryan.

“Really? Come on,” he said in response.

Earlier, Cryan questioned Department of Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan on the recovery of money that the private operators overbilled the state, a $600,000 financial miscue detected in an audit released last June by state Comptroller Matthew Boxer.

More than a year later, New Jersey has yet to recoup the funds, Lanigan said.

“What do we gotta do to get it?” asked Cryan.

“We’ve sought legal advice,” responded Lanigan. “We’re now looking to see if it’s appropriate or not.”

Former Gov. McGreevey speaks at hearing on halfway houses

By JOHN REITMEYER

STATE HOUSE BUREAU |

The Record

In passionate, firsthand testimony about his work with offenders, former Gov. Jim McGreevey urged lawmakers not to make halfway houses more like prisons, speaking at a hearing whose witnesses included the sister of a Garfield murder victim whose death raised questions about the privately run facilities.

Monday’s hearing — which at times was heated and emotional — was held almost a month after a series of stories in The New York Times detailed examples of violence, drug use and sexual assault inside some of the facilities, as well as escapes.

Governor Christie called for stepped up inspections following that report. The Democratic-controlled Legislature sought quarterly inspections of the facilities, writing that into the budget passed last month; Christie, a Republican, vetoed their effort, saying there sufficient state monitoring under his administration.

Last week, a Senate committee during a nearly four-hour meeting methodically looked at ways to improve the network of halfway houses, which make up a roughly $65 million portion of the state Department of Corrections budget.

But Monday’s hearing before the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee began with a decidedly more emotional tone with testimony from Stella Tulli, whose sister, Viviana, was killed in August 2010, allegedly by a parolee who escaped from a hospital after being taken there from a halfway house.

And the Assembly hearing lasted nearly twice as long as the Senate version, getting deeper into several issues, including the financial relationship between a non-profit entity and a for-profit company with an executive who has close ties to Christie.

Some of the most passionate testimony Monday came from McGreevey, who left office in 2004 amid scandal and now works with recovering addicts at a facility in Hudson County.

He urged lawmakers to prevent efforts to make the halfway houses become more like prisons. Some of the privatized facilities in New Jersey already hold hundreds of offenders and can resemble jails from the outside.

“At some point if we want people to reclaim their humanity, we have to treat them like human beings,” the former governor said.

McGreevey’s visit to the State House came after he attended the State of the State address in January and loudly applauded when Christie called for mandatory treatment for non-violent drug offenders. Last week, Christie signed into law a bill that will expand the state’s drug court program, a move with a similar goal as the halfway house program — to save taxpayer dollars and improve outcomes for offenders.

Tulli, during her testimony, said she’s sought answers from government on how the system failed her sister, but has yet to get any. She attended one of Christie’s town-hall-style meetings last month, but the governor did not call on her.

“I just hope there’s some action that can be taken and the system can be reviewed to make sure this never happens again,” she said, at times fighting back tears. “Why was a violent offender sent to a halfway house?”

The hearing became more heated later, after Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, D-Union, grew frustrated with answers from an executive from Community Education Centers, one of the primary operators of the halfway houses in New Jersey, and the employer of one of Christie’s closest political advisers, William Palatucci.

The company’s chief executive officer, John Clancy, attended the Senate meeting last week and was invited to the Assembly hearing, but was in Colorado on Monday attending a conference.

“I find it offensive that we couldn’t even get the guy here,” said Cryan, citing the public dollars paid each year to Clancy’s company. “It’s absolutely a disgrace that he’s not here.”

Cryan also pressed Mackey on the financial relationship between his company and a sister non-profit entity that technically holds the contract with the state because New Jersey law bans a for-profit company from directly operating halfway houses.

“There is absolutely a financial firewall,” Mackey told Cryan.

“Really? Come on,” he said in response.

Earlier, Cryan questioned Department of Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan on the recovery of money that the private operators overbilled the state, a $600,000 financial miscue detected in an audit released last June by state Comptroller Matthew Boxer.

More than a year later, New Jersey has yet to recoup the funds, Lanigan said.

“What do we gotta do to get it?” asked Cryan.

“We’ve sought legal advice,” responded Lanigan. “We’re now looking to see if it’s appropriate or not.”